Heartache and Near-Death Scares

Physical Experience

• hotel room in Washington D.C.
• hotel bathroom
• dark night, halfway through our school trip
• Washington D.C
• long, empty hotel hallway
• charter bus
• museums in Washington D.C
• shiny wheelchair
• large museum/building lobby
• springtime in Washington D.C. (flowers, buds, beautiful)

Scenes

• the big lobby of the building we were touring, with beautiful stained glass and ornate decorations and paintings
• it was rainy and overcast
• spring was blossoming
• the charter bus had comfortable bench seats
• the missionaries and the bishop all had black suits on, and they were broad-shouldered

Speech

• my mom was talking frantically to my dad on the phone
• I spoke with the black lady at the end of the hall
• my mom got a blessing from the missionaries and local bishop
• the entire school group gave a spoken prayer on the bus for my mom
• many people gave words of comfort and hope
• Roxanne Lemos told us about her mom's story

Emotion in the Moment

• fear of the unknown
• anxiety about being alone and about my mom
• love for my mom and others around me
• faith, from many types of people
• worry
• lonesomeness
• nervous
• embarrassed about having the wheelchair
• selflessness
• concern for my family (who were still at home in California)

People of Consequence

• Mom!! beautiful, fun, well-organized, focused, smart
• overweight black lady in charge of school trip keeping watch outside their doors (like a counselor)
• two LDS missionaries from a local ward
• a local LDS bishop
• James Warwick's mom- graceful
• Brett Martin's mom- homely and down-to-earth
• Jacob's mom- caring. Hispanic
• Roxanne Lemos, our school tour guide- much like an adopted grandmother, knowledgeable 
• Mr. Smittee the bus driver- black, funny, kind, faith-filled
• Jacob- my closest friend, Hispanic